Liebling Gebrochen
by arachnidsgabfest
Summary: "When scholars study a thing, they strive to kill it first, if it's alive; then they have the parts and they've lost the whole, for the link that's missing was the living soul." Mikasa Ackerman wished for the power to redo everything over again. Her determination is her saving grace as she tries to save those she cares so deeply for.
1. What is Gone Becomes Reality

The odd machine continued to whirl in the sky, a shrill echoing throughout the walls.

It had been merely hours since its initial descent, appearing in the center of the Wall Sina, before it had released a loud giggle that had torn the wall brick by brick. Humanity held their breath as the military police quickly moved into action to dismantle the floating monstrosity. Some sort of upside down top, with gears twirling underneath a dress as blue as the twilight sky in the background, a (head? They had dared to not even think it remotely human) hung low, pale, eyes obstructed by twin cone bindings. It did not even have to flinch, just let out its sonorous giggle and hundreds fell.

The military police, in its entirety, continued to live and fight for a short three minutes.

Titans were a constant reminder of being ruled by something bigger than themselves, but they were conquerable, there was a possibility of success. This being was a reminder of the finality of human life.

The original thought was that it couldn't move, there was no way it could, something of that size. It would destroy Wall Sina and then disappear, they all prayed with closed eyes. Eyes that quickly opened, of course, as they heard heavy footsteps shake their small, small world. From the walls that had so protected them, descended fifty-meter titans. Already with their nose to the ground, humanity was kicked once more.

The smallest mercy was when the titans did not aim for them, only charging and pawing uselessly at the creature that giggled once more. In an odd display of fraying color, the titans unravelled, some shrieking, some utterly silent, as they were consumed by smaller forms (human sized forms? In horror, no one dared to even breathe). The menace that had plagued them was taken down so easily, without the slightest hesitation or difficulty. _And then it moved._

Gears spiralling, it turned further outward, as the garrison moved into action to relocated the few, precious persons who had survived the first wave. As the humans clustered together, moving further toward what they deemed shelter, it only made it easier for the smaller (familiars, the Wall Worshippers cried, clinging to their beads) to pick them off, tearing into them in a savage manner they had not expressed with the titans.

The (witch! Blasphemer! Shrieked the Holy Church of the Three Walls) cared not for the individual lives that were blown out, only for mass destruction, craving it as one would crave air. It trailed its sleeves downward, fracturing Sina's buildings, made of pure concrete, like a child throwing dirt in the air. Crumbs of it crushed the iron wires propelling the men and women forth and, with them, crushed the garrison and those they were rescuing.

With them, fell the second military branch.

Wall Rose was quickly taking a turn for the worse, but it was more difficult than its sister, being of more area, and it took longer for the witch to fully make its rounds. The wall fell in a counter-clockwise motion, releasing more titans who fought in vain against the apex predators that consumed them effortlessly. With the foresight to escape, many had pressed toward the Wall Maria, throwing themselves at the gate, screaming for the (non-existent) garrison to open the gate, to have the titans eat them rather than suffer this fate.

From all angles, the survey corps rose, as the Rogue Titan exposed himself and reached toward the witch, not having thought it through, how far up it was. The witch didn't move, but the familiars did, surrounding him with ribbons as he shook and roared and struggled to get free. The captain soared past, his swords trained on the one circling the titan's neck, but the blades went straight through, with no indication of any harm done to it. The familiar turned to him, human only in figure and outlining, and he freezes, the only time he's ever hesitated, as he sees strawberry-blonde hair and an easy smile in the twisting shadows. She catches him by the arms, runs her fingers lightly through his hair, and with the same giggle he missed so desperately, kissed him until he could no longer breathe.

Levi fell limp in the arms of the shadow of Petra Ral, and she ripped his head off of his shoulders messily, dropping his body into the rubble of humanity below them.

The ribbons continued to wind around the Rogue Titan's neck, without her assistance, and, as he snapped his teeth fruitlessly at them, they noticed a blur of blonde and brown uniform sailing past them, straight toward the witch. They had no time to waste, however, so they wound the bands tighter and tighter, caring not for the witch they came from, only for the pleasure at seeing the struggle in the boys eyes.

Armin Arlert aimed directly for the neck of the witch, with the only conclusion that the neck must be its weak spot, there's no other possibility. The second his blades connected, they sunk in, and he let out his held breath.

It turned, lips wide in a grin, leaned forward, and bit him in half.

There was no time for reaction, no quick escape, no sudden loop hole and he was suddenly minus his lower body. The blood didn't even splatter on its lips, only dripped slowly, and it leaned forward and finished him off.

The Rogue Titan let out a howl of sorrow as the cords binding him suddenly found purchase in his flesh, biting down and slicing through him. He screamed as the witch licked the last of the blood off its lips, the last image on his mind.

With the fall of the Rogue Titan, a shot rang out, an ordered retreat. A futile retreat, as there was nowhere for them to escape to, but their original three hundred soldiers had been quickly cut into a mere thirty and Commander Erwin could not suffer to watch them fall even further. A lone soldier resisted this order, continuing to circle the witch, cutting through fabrics but not risking getting any closer to its mouth. Angry tears fell from her eyes, burning paths down her cheeks as she sliced off a finger from the witch.

Familiars pursued her, shrieking in rage at the damage, but stringy arms suddenly wrapped around her waist, pulling her away with an overabundance of gas. Resisting only briefly, Mikasa Ackerman went limp as she looked up into the eyes of Sasha Braus, contorted with vicious horror and fear. Sasha bit down hard on her already bleeding lip, not restraining the waterfall of tears that wouldn't cease as she delivered Mikasa to the other fourteen left.

Commander Erwin leads them downward, into someone's crawl space, and Sasha chokes back a sob as she's the one to push a torso off of the twin doors leading down to it. Mikasa stares blankly ahead, Sasha and Captain Erwin being the only ones she recognizes, and, with a feeling that encompases her whole heart, realizes the fate the rest of her friends must've met. Hunched over, they spread out, each person individually attempting to cope with the stress.

The two girls stayed close, both extremes of the same emotion as one vomited out of fear and the other clutched a red scarf so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Sasha had pulled the two of them to the furthest corner, far away from the others, as they all looked at each other helplessly. They dared not speak.

A soft, childish voice arose, only to Mikasa's ears. "Humanity has fallen, Mikasa Ackerman." Every vertebrae in her spine aligned as she sat up taller, looking around for the source of the voice, knowing no one in the room previously carried such a tone. She met the eyes of an odd, furry white creature, who didn't blink as its pink eyes gazed at her. "I wouldn't recommend speaking aloud to me, the others won't think so highly of you."

She swallowed heavily, the tears that burnt her eyes forced back as she dealt with yet another unknown. Her hands twitched toward one of her broken sword-pieces, curling around the handle. Her mouth raises in a grimace as she concentrates on thinking loudly as the creature had, though her chest rises and falls with a mild panic. "Who are you?"

"I am Kyubey. It's nice to finally be able to meet you, Mikasa Ackerman." He (or, she assumed it's a he, in regard to its tone of voice) turns around in a circle a couple of times, before curling up.

"Why are you talking to me?" She's not going to beat around the bush, she's debating losing her lunch all over the stuffed animal and her hands shake every time she glances at her empty-eyed commander. "This is the final step to insanity, isn't it." She turns her head to the side and tries to even out her breathing.

"To be frank, I would like to make you an offer." His tail swishes and he tilts his head. "You can change all of this, Mikasa Ackerman."

A sob broke free of her chest and Sasha turned to face her in surprise, even though she, herself, hadn't stopped crying. Though her hands shook, she patted at Mikasa's eyes with the ends of that scarf she always wore, trying to smile or cheer her up, but coming up short. Aloud, she let out one word: "How?"

"I have the ability to grant you any one wish, Mikasa, if you accept my terms." He closed his eyes and she heard the terms ring out, echoing hollowly in her chest. "Become a puella magi and fight witches like the one out there, and I will be able to grant you any wish."

"I could... fight those things?" Her pupils shrunk, and she gripped her sword tighter, staring up at the ceiling, imagining the monstrosity yielding to her blade. "Could I bring them back?"

"No, you can't bring someone back from the dead. That's the only condition."

"I won't blame you if you do." Halfway frozen, Mikasa's head turned to face her commander, who looked from her sword to her face. "I release all of you from military duty, consequences be damned. If you are going to go through with it, if you... take your own life-" The tortured look in his eyes resumed, but a single tear fell as he looked away from her.

"He can't see me." Kyubey interjected, and his tone almost sounds impatient. Her wet eyes cut back to him. "If that's what you thought was going on. Now, Mikasa, what is the wish that will make your soul gem shine?"

Mikasa closed her eyes under the press of Sasha's hands still dabbing tears away from her cheeks, but she responds, curling her arm around the smaller girl's shoulders. "I want to go back before any of this happened. I want to be capable of saving Armin, of saving Eren, of saving every person who suffered tonight. I want to be strong enough to fight."

Curling silver metals burst from her arm and she stares at it blankly as it swirls until it forms a circular plate. _A...Shield?_ She was only momentarily distracted before a white-hot pain burst through her chest and her arms moved quickly to cup around herself. She grit her teeth through it all, knowing it must be the price of the contract, the mind-numbing headache. Feeling pressure on her palms, she looked down in alarm, finding an oddly gold-encrusted ruby in her palm.

It pulsed and glowed as she looked up at the white creature, then at Sasha, who stared at her in confusion. She lifted the coil of her scarf up and unbuttoned a single button on her shirt, like she'd done it million of times before, pressing the gem to her collarbone. It compressed, yielding to her wants, and stuck to her skin in a whole other shape. Unable to see it herself, she traced her fingertips over it, trying to understand the situation.

Her body knew what to do, however, and her fingers moved down to the shield. Eye-like structures unclasped, and sand began to flow backwards, as the shield wound itself counterclockwise, the gears whirring. She closed her eyes, she can do it, she'll save them all... She can protect them, she _will _protect them...

"Your contract is complete. Your wish has overcome entropy. Go forth and release your magical power, Mikasa Ackerman."

She closed her eyes.


	2. Honesty is More Than Not Lying

Mikasa awakens to the warm comfort of cotton sheets, heart pounding in her chest. _Ah, so it was all a bad dream..._ With a smile and a slight sigh, she cups her hands around her forehead, calming herself down with the familiar gesture. Of course it was all a dream, what else could it be? Giant machines and all of the elite military being so easily killed... There was no way it could've been real. Cool metal presses a small dent into her finger and forehead, and she pulls her hands away, her heart beat picking up again.

A small silver ring, offset only by the brightest gem she'd ever seen, colored bright red. Archaic symbols curved around the metal, and she twisted her hand around the read it all. Though it was of no language she could recall learning, the meaning resonated deep within her. _Mikasa Ackerman_, written in curly, unfamiliar lettering, made her blood run cold. Something dripped onto her shirt, she led the trail up her neck, over her cheek, and found her damp eyes leaking tears.

There had been no mistake. Before her eyes, everyone had been slaughtered- and she'd only been helpful in tearing off a handful of dress scraps from the witch. But, that creature... It had promised her a way to fight that end... Was this it? She dug the heels of her hands into her eyes, trying to even out her breathing again. She could fix this, she knew what she was up against this time. Mikasa turns herself out of the bed, taking in her surroundings.

Her memory had never been the best, but everything in hindsight suddenly seemed crystal clear. This was the lodging the 104th training squad had stayed in right before... She bolted upward, the realization dawning on her. The titan's invasion of Trost was tomorrow! She marched toward the door, before pausing, glancing over the rest of the girls still slumbering. The sun had barely peeked over the horizon, casting its orange haze over them all.

A pain blossoms through her chest, recalling the only fourteen survivors of the Survey Corps. She cuts her eyes away from them, feeling guilt rise in her throat. She hadn't been able to save a single one of them- Sasha had saved her at the last moment possible. _I won't leave that debt unpaid_. Crossing through the door, a light breeze lifts her scarf, a chill running down her spine.

"Now, who would you be?" In the same unnerving sense that he had appeared before, Kyubey appeared to her, his small paws hitting the cement in an almost comical 'pit-pat' sound. "I don't believe I recall contracting you." His voice echoed in her head, and she can feel a headache coming on.

It takes less effort than before to respond, but the mechanics of mentally doing so confuses her. "You just did. I'm Mikasa Ackerman, of the Survey Corps-" Looking around, she realizes that her status no longer applied, so far in the past. "-Correction. Of the 104th training squad."

"Well, this is strange. I don't believe I've ever met a Mikasa Ackerman. Of course, before this moment." He tilts his head to look at her, taking her in. "You're smarter than the rest, at the very least, you hide your soul gem. But you're rather newly contracted... Even stranger." His mouth doesn't move at all as he speaks, and she shifts uncomfortably at the acknowledgement.

"Ah, well, I suppose this is where we part then-" Mikasa tries to move around him, hopefully to move toward the male's room to talk about this odd phenomena with Eren or Armin. Preferably, both.

"You have no clue what you're doing." He cuts in front of her, head tilted. It wasn't a question, he could clearly read it in her thoughts and body language, but she froze up, instantly defensive.

"Of course I do. I will save Eren from being eaten in Trost, prevent the Female Titan from surfacing, and then eliminate _that witch_." She had mapped everything out perfectly in that split second- it would be the perfect outcome. She could keep Eren safe, keep Armin mentally stable, save those hundreds in Trost, in the Wall Sina...

"No, you won't be able to." Kyubey's tail swishes and she can almost detect a hint of... Smugness? She frowns, narrowing her eyes at him. "Your soul gem, and, therefore, the powers that come with it, are limited by your emotions and how much magic you've used. You accumulate impurities from using that magic. And, you intend to rely on such powers to achieve these goals."

"Then how do you fix the impurities?" This new power was obviously flawed, but she didn't mind fighting for it- anything would be better than the half-bitten corpse of- The sliced pieces of- Mikasa quickly disconnects that train of thought.

"Strange. Really, really strange. I've never known a magical girl to ask all the correct questions." His eyes close and another chill runs up her spine. "You gather things called grief seeds from beings called witches- which you seem to already have encountered. The grief seeds will remove the impurities from your soul gem."

"Alright, then I will have to locate a witch, then." She nods to herself, thinking of the large, grotesque image of the last witch she'd seen, figuring that something of that size would be hard to conceal. Perhaps she could take one out during the Battle of Trost, when she had her blades. The shield wouldn't do much good in any offensive position, the best being her knocking something over the head with it.

She can hear Kyubey's sigh, and she freezes again, wondering what snide comment he was going to let out. "I can ascertain that you're of moderate intelligence, but you haven't even drawn out your soul gem for hunting. Mikasa, to be able to quickly identify a witch anywhere, you need you soul gem outside of its encasement." His tail swishing almost seems derogatory, and she wrinkles her nose in his direction, thinking about kicking the animal. "I'm going to ignore that loud thought out of the apathy of my cardiovascular system, by the way. When your soul gem shines brighter than before, you know that you've caught a witch!"

"It's a lot simpler than you made it sound." She deadpans, and Kyubey takes a step back, eyeing the odd girl. "I kill it after I've caught it. I reap the grief seed. I clean my soul gem. It seems to be a very simple process."

"You're rather... open to this system."

"Isn't it what already occurs?" She's done speaking with him, and she continues moving past him, the inflection in her voice unceasing. Her head's starting to pound from the mental effort to keep up a conversation telepathically, and she continues outloud."It's the same with human beings and cattle, with titans and humans. It's an old system."

_What a strange human being_. Kyubey thought to himself, watching as she disappeared around a corner. _Just when I think I start to understand them..._

In retrospect, she should've asked more questions, like how to let her soul gem out, but she was smart, she could figure it out. Flexing her fingertips, Mikasa studied the ring, which her soul gem had compressed to. _It can't possibly be that difficult. _She makes a lightly gripped fist, twists her ring around, and, yet, nothing. Feeling more than a little frustrated, she takes a seat against the wall separating the first girl's cabin and the second girl's cabin. "Ah, maybe Armin might know what to do." She trails off, casting her glance back toward her shared room.

A pair of curtains swished back into place and she stood up straighter, knowing someone had been observing her. The sun had settled three-fourths into the sky, and it shared with her its warmth, like a thick blanket over her. The exhaustion she felt was surreal, and slightly obnoxious. _I should just close my eyes for a second..._

"Mikasa, what do you think you're doing?" Her eyes snapped open again, meeting eyes that chilled her warm body. Annie Leonhardt crouched in front of her, an odd expression on her face. Eyebrows drawn, eyes narrowed in the slightest- it took Mikasa a handful of second to process the emotion coming off of her. _Concern...?_ But the Annie she knew was definitely not fond of her, and their only acknowledgements of one another were subtle nods when the other did well in training.

She takes in this new form of Annie, scanning her for some indication as to why she acted so strange. With a flame suddenly growing in her chest, she sees the small ring on her finger, the one she'd used to cut herself to trigger her titan form, curled with the same strange archaic lettering. _No, I can't trust her anymore- Not after what she's done!_ Was this truly correct- for her to distrust her for her actions as the Female Titan in the future? "What does it look like I'm doing?" Her voice wavers in the slightest, and she bites her tongue, her weakness exposed. She begins to stand up, to face her head on, but her knees buckle. _What's wrong with me? Why... Why is it so difficult to move?_

"It looks like you're wondering how you clean your soul gem." Annie's voice is solid, and she sighs heavily, raking a hand through her hair.

When they make eye contact, she smiles in the slightest.


	3. To Think is Easy

Mikasa's reaction was nigh instantaneous. If it weren't for the slowly spread numbness in her limbs, _damn them, she could barely move,_ she would've shot up, moved away, anything. Annie, alone, was singlehandedly #4 in the top ten of their squad, the Female Titan, and had taken down the Special Operations Squad in half of a heartbeat. She was dangerous, unbelievably so, yet her body wouldn't move._ This was before she became the Female Titan, right?_ Why was her mind having such difficulty processing what had been effortless mere seconds ago? The same letterings on Annie's ring, the same script, printed out _Annie Leonhardt_. It proved her to be another puella magi.

But, was that a good thing...?

"Hey, stop that." When Mikasa's thoughts had drifted away, Annie had somehow come closer, sitting on her heels in front of her. She tried to move her lips in response, a simple "what?" would suffice, but her throat felt dry. Words died and dried on her tongue, sitting heavily in her mouth. The other girl gently hit at her cheek, trying to keep her eyes open. "You must've used one hell of a spell for this to happen, Ackerman." She freezes as she hears someone start to pass by them, but Mikasa is still motionless. The moment passes and she lets out an audible sigh of relief. "Look, I'm going to be nice, just this once, because I know you're worth saving, okay? You're new at this, so don't expect me to just cough up grief seeds at the snap of your fingers."

This is easily the longest Annie has ever talked to her, yet Mikasa's almost completely unresponsive. She tries to blink in a thankful manner, but she's not entirely sure as to the function of the grief seed, nor her intentions._Why would I be worth saving? What am I being saved from?_ She's pulled away from her thoughts when cold fingers uncurl her fist, the only sensation she can detect. Annie does something, she doesn't know what, but her hand glows a pale blue before her soul gem rests in her own palm. Mentally, she recoiled. The gorgeous scarlet of the jewel had soured, darkened to an almost burgundy.

Annie's cold hands pressed against her forehead, pushing it back. There was no explanation for this, and no way for the other girl to question her. Her hand coiled behind her neck, and she produced an aquamarine in her palm. She tilted the two gems together and, Mikasa watched with wide, confused eyes, the impurities from her own soul gem pressed themselves from carmine to cyan. The warmth that had settled in her bones dissipated, replaced with rapidly awakening feeling, leaving her panicked as realization dawned.

Something had been viciously wrong, earlier, when she had sat down in the warmth of the sun. It was early morning, the sun had barely risen, and it was almost bitterly cold. Mikasa's eyes darted to Annie's dark soul gem, her own hands shaking as she pulled hers away. "Thank you...?" Was that the correct response? It was certain the elder girl had cleaned her soul gem, but had she harmed herself in the process? There was no certain way to be sure.

Adjusting the way she sat, Annie watched her silently for a long time. It would be another hour or two before anyone rose for roll call or even for breakfast. Reiner and Bertholdt, she knew, would be the last to leave, giving her more time alone with Mikasa. It was obvious that she was newly contracted, and even more obvious that her wish must've been something extremely strong. Already, she had accumulated almost an entire soul gem's worth of impurities from the wish alone. "I need to go witch-hunting soon."

There. She put the opportunity out, knowing Mikasa would take it. She wasn't one to ask outright, but she also wouldn't strand the other girl like this. It would all cause her problems later on, anyway. "Would you mind if I tagged along?" Mikasa's voice was scratchy, as if she hadn't spoke for months, and she concluded that this was a side effect of letting her gem get polluted.

"...Just don't get yourself killed." Annie ran a hand through her hair, taking her soul gem in her palm and placing it at the base of her neck. Mikasa traced her eyes over it as it compressed, leaving a pattern of a seven-pointed star. She held her own semi-impure soul gem in her palm, debated on what to do with it, before following what Annie had done.

It came naturally, unlike summoning her soul gem, to move it under her scarf and just below her clavicle. Her eyes followed the slowly forming shape, processing the newfound knowledge. It was a large infinity sign, the length of her thumb and three fingers wide, painted the same ruby color.

The symbol did not raise particularly positive feelings within her.

Annie was already several strides ahead, knowing that the other trainee would follow behind her. Kyubey, she would admit, was an utter asshole when it came to new puella magi. Mikasa could've died if she hadn't seen her leave her bunk- and he left her high and dry without knowing how to even summon her soul gem. She would give that weasel a good kick the next time she saw it- Mikasa was definitely not her best friend, but she was someone she respected, and Kyubey's attitude hit her below the belt.

"What magic do you specialize in?" She's the first to break the silence.

"...Pardon?" Mikasa's voice betrayed her confusion, but that was fine. All she had was a mind full of confusion and rapidly developing heart ache from the situation.

Being a tutor had never been her strong suit, and her people-skills were well under par, so Annie struggled to find a question that was neither rude or confusing. "...What did you wish for? Your wish decides your magic."

_Ah, that makes a lot more sense._ Mikasa thought toward her shield, the clasping eyes and twisting components. She couldn't piece together what sort of "magic" that might yield, but hopefully it was one she could use to her advantage. "I wished to redo an event- to protect those I love." That was putting it vaguely, but there was no need for Annie to panic over something she, herself, would soon take care of.

She would have it all under control.

"...Temporal magic, then. Possibly preventative and defensive magic." Annie made a small whistle through her teeth. "All three are very difficult to use." Respect clearly shown on her face, eyebrows raised in acknowledgement. Mikasa had obviously put thought into her wish, and the benefits showed. Temporal magic was the strongest form, beating even her spatial magic. It was a lot rarer as well.

"Do you know anyone else that could teach me to use it?"

Annie grunted in response, her eyes cutting away from the other girl. No, no one else could teach her temporal magic because she was the only puella magi around. "This is my hunting territory. There's no one else."

"...So you're the only one allowed to kill witches here." It's a statement, not a question. She's sick of questions. Everything was unexplained and she felt too uninformed. Territories appear to have already been established before she set back in time. Faintly, she wondered if she could go back before Annie had contracted.

Mikasa received only another grunt in response. It was another long five minutes of her taking in their surroundings, the same damn dormitories and bunks she passed by every day. They were headed to the mess hall, but she couldn't help but wonder if any of the food had been set out already. "You're my pupil now. My territory might as well be yours." Annie's voice was quiet, almost thoughtful, almost as if the words had accidentally slipped out of her mouth without her permission.

"Thank you." This was the appropriate response. Territory was a word associated with something coveted. Annie was a self-reliant and self-centered person, and it worked for her in the best way. She'd never depended on anyone, never helped anyone out as far as Mikasa could remember. It's difficult for her to fathom the same person showing her the ropes of this odd new life she'd created for herself.

Annie had a soft smile form, a gentle pull on both sides of her mouth. "You're welcome, I guess." She attempted to turn away, to hide the smile and weakness from Mikasa, but she has already seen it.

Mikasa pulls her scarf closer to herself, suddenly cold again. The last time she'd seen that smile, Annie had been delusional.

And then she had turned into the Female Titan.

**A/N: Reviews and comments are greatly appreciated! If you have any pressing questions about this story, you can contact me at .com- I'm using it to flesh out the many timelines! **

**Until next time! (Don't worry, it won't be as long as last time)**


End file.
